Parental Support Gap changes

When an existing Parental Support Gap ends or the reason for it changes to or from a safety concern, this may affect the number of applicable parents and who those parents are.

A Parental Support Gap ends when the young person can reasonably be expected to rely on that parent for financial support. This may be because they have reconciled after a breakdown in their relationship. When this happens, that parent will generally become an applicable parent.

A Parental Support Gap may change to or from being on the ground of a safety concern. When a safety concern starts with a parent, their partner (if any) cannot be an applicable parent. This may mean another parent becomes an applicable parent. When a safety concern ends with a parent, that parent will generally become an applicable parent. If they have a partner, that parent may also become an applicable parent.

When there is a new applicable parent because of a Parental Support Gap change, that parent must have their income assessed for the Parental Income Test to determine if the young person still qualifies for Jobseeker Support Student Hardship.

The effective date is generally the first available date if MSD was notified within 14 days of the change. This includes when the change was notified before it happened.

If the change was notified more than 14 days after it happened, the effective date depends on whether there was a good and sufficient reason for the delay e.g. bereavement or illness.

If there was a good and sufficient reason, the effective date is generally the earliest date it would have been reasonable for the young person to notify of the change. This is the date the good and sufficient reason no longer applies.

If there was no good and sufficient reason, the effective date is generally the date the change happened.

Example 1

Firas reconciled with his mother and could rely on her for financial support from 3 January. Firas was in hospital from 8 to 18 January and told MSD about the change on 28 January. MSD reviews his Jobseeker Support Student Hardship and finds that he does not qualify because he does not meet the Parental Income Test due to his mother's income. Because Firas was in hospital, he had a good and sufficient reason for part of the delay. His Jobseeker Support Student Hardship is cancelled from 19 January because this is the earliest date it would have been reasonable for Firas to tell MSD about the change.

Example 2

Louis has a new Parental Support Gap with their father, which started on 2 December. Louis waits until 28 December to tell MSD about the change because they did not think it would affect their benefit. MSD reviews Louis' Jobseeker Support Student Hardship and finds that they do not qualify. This is because Louis has a step parent who became an applicable parent due to the change, and their combined parental income is over the limit. Because Louis did not have a good and sufficient reason for the delay, their Jobseeker Support Student Hardship is cancelled from 2 December.